["Pomp and Circumstance"]
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yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Amen.
Turn your Bibles to Numbers chapter 14.
Numbers chapter 14.
If you do not have a Bible, please raise your hand,
and Anash will bring you one.
Numbers chapter 14.
We will read the entire chapter as is our custom.
Numbers 14.
Just keep your hands up, and Anash will bring you a Bible.
Numbers 14, the Bible reads,
And all the congregation lifted up their voice and cried,
and the people wept that night.
And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses
and against Aaron.
And the whole congregation said unto them,
Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt,
or would God we had died in this wilderness?
And wherefore hath the Lord brought us unto this land,
to fall by this sword,
that our wives and our children should be prey?
Were it not better for us to return into Egypt?
And they said one to another,
Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.
Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces
before all the assembly of the congregation
of the children of Israel.
And Joshua the son of Nun,
and Caleb the son of Jephunneh,
which were of them that searched the land,
rent their clothes.
And they spake unto all the company
of the children of Israel, saying,
The land which we pass through to search it
is an exceeding good land.
If the Lord delight in us,
then he will bring us unto this land,
and give it us a land which floweth with milk and honey.
Only rebel not ye against the Lord,
neither fear ye the people of the land,
for they are bread for us.
Their defense is departed from them,
and the Lord is with us.
Fear them not.
But all the congregation bade stone them with stones,
and the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle
of the congregation before all the children of Israel.
And the Lord said unto Moses,
How long will this people provoke me?
And how long will it be ere they believe me?
For all the signs which I have showed among them,
I will smite them with the pestilence,
and disinherit them,
and will make of thee a greater nation
and mightier than they.
And Moses said unto the Lord,
Then the Egyptians shall hear it,
for thou brought us up this people
in thy might from among them,
and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land.
For they have heard that thou Lord art among his people,
that thou Lord art seen face to face,
and that thy cloud standeth over them,
and that thou goest before them,
by daytime in a pillar on a cloud,
and in a pillar of fire by night.
Now if thou shalt kill all this people as one man,
then the nations which have heard the fame of thee
will speak, saying,
Because the Lord was not able to bring this people
into the land which he swore unto them,
therefore he has slain them in the wilderness.
And now, I beseech thee,
let the power of my Lord be great,
according as thou hast spoken,
saying, The Lord is longsuffering,
and of great mercy,
forgiving iniquity and transgression,
and by no means clearing the guilty,
visiting the iniquity of the fathers
upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.
Pardon, I beseech thee,
the iniquity of this people
according unto the greatness of thy mercy,
and as thou hast forgiven this people
from Egypt even until now,
and the Lord said, I have pardoned according to thy word.
But as truly as I live,
all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord,
because all those men which have seen my glory
and my miracles,
which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness,
and have tempted me now these ten times,
and have not hearkened to my voice,
surely they shall not see the land
which I swear unto their fathers,
neither shall any of them that provoke me see it.
But my servant Caleb,
because he had another spirit with him,
and hath followed me fully,
him will I bring into this land
whereunto you went, and his seed shall possess it.
Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites
dwelt in the valley.
Tomorrow turn you, and get you into the wilderness
by the way of the Red Sea.
And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
How long shall I bear with this evil congregation
which murmur against me?
I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel,
which they murmur against me.
Say unto them, As truly as I live, sayeth the Lord,
as ye have spoken in my ears, so will I do to you.
Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness,
and all that were numbered of you,
according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward,
which have murmured against me,
doubtless ye shall not come into the land,
concerning which I swear to make you dwell therein,
save Caleb the son of Jephunneh,
and Joshua the son of Nun.
But your little ones, which ye said should be prey,
them will I bring in,
and they shall know the land which ye have despised.
But as for you, your carcasses,
they shall fall in the wilderness,
and your children shall wander in the wilderness for forty years,
and bear your hoardums,
until your carcasses be wasted in the wilderness.
After the number of the days of which ye search the land,
even forty days,
each day for a year,
shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years,
and ye shall know my breach of promise.
I, the Lord have said,
I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation,
that are gathered together against me.
In this wilderness they shall be consumed,
and there they shall die.
And the men, which Moses sent to search the land,
who returned, and made all the congregation a murmur against him,
by bringing up a slander upon the land,
even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land,
died by the plague before the Lord.
But Joshua the son of Nun,
and Caleb the son of Jephunneh,
which were of the men that went to search the land,
lived still.
And Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel,
and all the people mourned greatly.
And they rose up early in the morning,
and gat them up into the top of the mountain,
saying, Lo, we be here,
and will go up into the place for which the Lord hath promised,
for we have sinned.
And Moses said,
Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the Lord?
But it shall not prosper,
go not up,
for the Lord is not among you,
that ye be not smitten before your enemies.
For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you,
and ye shall fall by the sword,
because ye are turned away from the Lord.
Therefore the Lord will not be with you.
But they presumed to go up unto the hilltop.
Nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the Lord,
and Moses,
departed not out of the camp.
Then the Amalekites came down,
and the Canaanites which dwell in that hill,
and smote them,
and discomfited them,
even unto Hormah.
Let's pray.
Father God Almighty,
thank you for this day.
Thank you for this opportunity to come together.
Please bless Pastor in the message.
Please let it bring glory and honor to you.
In the name of Jesus Christ I pray.
Amen.
Alright, well we're there in Numbers,
chapter number 14.
And of course we've been going through a series called
Wilderness Wanderings,
and it's been a study through the book of Numbers.
We've been going chapter by chapter through the book of Numbers.
And today we are continuing here
in chapter number 14.
And if you remember we are seeing in chapter 14
the response to the evil report
that the ten spies gave the congregation in chapter 13.
In fact if you just want to flip back real quickly
to Numbers 13 and verse 32,
just notice the first phrase of verse 32.
The Bible says,
And they, referring to the ten spies,
brought up an evil report of the land.
And of course if you remember,
Moses sends twelve spies into the promised land
to spy out the land.
Ten come back with an evil report
and influence the rest of the congregation
to be afraid and to be fearful
and to not be willing to enter into
the land that God had promised them.
And you know it reminds us of the New Testament
when the Bible says,
And just a little bit of a bad attitude,
a little bit of a discouraging spirit,
a little bit of an evil report
can cause a lot of problems.
And in Numbers chapter 14
we've been seeing the response from the people.
If you remember last week
we saw how the people responded.
We saw how Moses and Aaron responded.
We saw a little bit about how God responded.
This morning we're going to see
how Joshua and Caleb respond
to the people's response
to the evil report
and to how the people respond to it.
And we're going to spend another week
other than this sermon in this chapter.
And I want to explain,
I'm taking a little bit of time
in these chapters
because these are pivotal chapters.
These are really the important chapters
in this book
because these chapters explain to us
why there even is a book of Numbers.
If you notice there in Numbers chapter 14
and verse 23,
of course because the people responded
inappropriately because they responded
with fear instead of faith,
the Bible says in verse 23,
surely they,
this is God speaking to the children of Israel,
surely they shall not see the land
which I swear unto their fathers
and neither shall any of them that provoke me see it
but my servant Caleb
because he had another spirit with him.
And I want you to notice
that the reason that we even have a book of Numbers,
these chapters really are what
what creates the entire book of Numbers
and all the stories we're going to read about
and study about as the children of Israel wander the wilderness
because that wasn't supposed to happen.
They were supposed to go across the wilderness.
It was supposed to be a journey of just several weeks
and then they were supposed to enter the promised land.
We weren't even supposed to have
if God's plan would have been followed
a book like the book of Numbers.
We would have had something more like the book of Joshua
but it might have been called the book of Moses
because Moses would have brought the children of Israel
into the promised land
but because of their unbelief
because of their rebellion
they ended up being cursed by God
and they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years
and here we see in verse 23
surely they shall not see the land
which I swear unto their fathers.
So there's a very pivotal chapter,
chapters 13 and 14
because they really changed the history of this book
but they changed the biblical history,
the history of the nation of Israel
and the children of Israel
really went downhill here in these chapters.
Another reason why I want to spend some time on these chapters
not only because of the importance of the biblical history
and the book itself
but also because if you remember
when we started our study in the book of Numbers
we talked about the fact that in the New Testament
in the book of Acts
the congregation that we are looking at in the wilderness
here in the book of Numbers
is referred to as the church in the wilderness
in the New Testament
and what we can learn from the book of Numbers
is that there's a lot of correlations,
a lot of symbolism and applications
that apply to New Testament churches.
Just like they were a congregation in the wilderness
with their pastor Moses
we can learn and apply things to our congregation
and to local New Testament churches today
and in many ways I feel like Verdi Baptist Church
is in our Numbers 13 and 14 of our history
because these people had made it to the edge of the next step.
They had made it to the brink of the next step,
the next level that God had for them
and of course the story is a negative story.
They failed and they failed to enter into the Promised Land
but I feel in many ways that we are on the edge
and on the brink of the next step
and the next level of what God has for our church
and we've been kind of wandering in the wilderness out here
not for 40 years but for seven years
wandering in the wilderness next to the methadone clinic
and we're getting ready to enter into the Promised Land
of that new property that we've purchased
and I believe that God has great things for us there
but you need to understand that just like there were those
who did not make it into the Promised Land
and died in the wilderness
there are those in this congregation that are not going to make it into that Promised Land, unfortunately.
You're going to die in this wilderness before we even get there
and what we see is that Caleb was not one of those people.
In fact, God highlights Caleb as an individual who's different.
Look at verse 24.
But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him
and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereunto he went.
So what we see when God brings up Caleb is he highlights two different individuals
and groups of people from the same generation
because I want you to understand this and I want to explain this before we get into the text.
When we see the response of Caleb, we see here that God highlights Caleb.
Now we know that it's not just Caleb, it's Caleb and Joshua.
But God highlights Caleb in verse 24 and says,
But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him.
God says that Caleb had a different spirit than the spirit of the ten spies.
Caleb had a different spirit than the spirit of the congregation
that wept and feared and complained and murmured and died in the wilderness.
Now we know that it was Caleb and Joshua, but the reason that Caleb is emphasized
is I believe because of the fact that Joshua is really a young man
and I believe that Joshua is being influenced by Caleb here to do the right thing.
And of course Joshua ends up becoming the leader of the children of Israel.
Forty years from now he will become the leader of the children of Israel
and bring them into the promised land and have successful conquest of the promised land.
But I believe the reason that God is emphasizing Caleb is because Caleb was an older man.
Caleb was of the same generation as the generation that's going to die in the wilderness.
The people that God said you're going to wander in the wilderness and you're going to die in the wilderness
was the age group of Caleb and all of those people were going to die in the wilderness
except for Caleb, verse 24, but my servant Caleb because he had another spirit and followed me fully.
Him will I bring into the land where and to he went.
Now not to minimize Joshua. Joshua is a great man of God
and Joshua was a very smart individual by allowing himself to be influenced by someone like Caleb.
And I would just submit to you this morning that you should be careful who you allow to influence you.
And you say, well, you know, as long as it's church people, right?
Not everybody that comes to church is right with God.
Not everybody that comes to church is going to encourage you to face your fears and walk in faith.
They might discourage you. They might bring you down with them.
You might end up dying in the wilderness with them.
So we see that Caleb is a man that had another spirit.
And what I want to do this morning is I want to identify the spirit of Caleb by looking at how he responded
versus how the rest of the people responded to this evil report.
And again, because of the fact that this is the kind of spirit you need to have
if you want to make it to the next level of your Christian life.
And I would say this to the next level of Verity Baptist Church.
We're on a trip this week and we were talking about certain things.
And we're watching so many new people, and praise God for it, be brought into our church and brought into the congregation.
We're watching new people come in as we watch some old people fade out, unfortunately.
And we were talking about the fact that it just makes perfect sense because every time we've moved,
every time we've moved buildings, we started in a living room, then we went to an 800 square foot building,
then a 1,600 square foot building, then a 4,600 square foot building, then this building,
which we started out as 5,600 and will end up being 12,000 square feet,
then to the new property, 4 acres, 400 seat auditorium.
But every time we look back on the different buildings, it feels like a different church.
Because every time we move, not everyone makes a transition.
Not everybody makes it. Some people die in the wilderness.
Now obviously there are some of you that have been with us for 10 years and 12 years and 8 years.
And God bless you and praise God for you.
But unfortunately that is rare because in church life what you find is that people come and go.
People come, they get excited, they get excited about the things of God, but they don't fully make it.
They don't become this lifelong, I'm not talking about being saved.
Obviously you're saved for all of eternity if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
But they don't actually become a disciple of Christ for their entire life.
They might last 3 years, 4 years, 5 years, 7 years.
They might last a while with this whole church thing and soul winning thing and loving God thing and serving God thing.
But it's not something that becomes a lifelong thing.
And the reason is because they don't have the spirit that Caleb had.
And I'd like to identify for you this morning the spirit of Caleb.
I'd like for us to see what it is that Caleb had that these other individuals did not have.
I'd like you to look at Numbers chapter 14 and verse 6.
Notice what the Bible says,
And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephuneth, which were of them that searched the land.
Now remember these were 2 out of the 12 spies.
When they heard how the people responded, the Bible says that they rent their clothes.
And of course this has to do with mourning.
They're upset, they're praying, and they're sad about the response of the people.
And this is very similar to the response that we saw from Moses and Aaron.
If you remember when we saw Moses and Aaron, the Bible says that they fell on their faces.
And they began to pray for the people.
But I want you to notice that Caleb then gets up and kind of goes into the speech.
He tries to steer the people in the right direction.
And as we see the words that Caleb said, as we see the things that he said,
we see what distinguished Caleb from the rest of the people.
And why it is that God would say that he had another spirit.
And I want you to notice the spirit of Caleb and what it is that he saw.
And if you're taking notes this morning, and I always encourage you to take notes,
on the back of your course this week there's a place for you to write down some things.
Maybe you can write these statements down as we look at this from this passage this morning.
I'd like you to notice, first of all, when we're looking at this idea of another spirit,
Caleb had another spirit, a spirit different than the other people.
And by the way, these were all God's people in the Old Testament.
They were all in the congregation. They were all God's people.
But you need to understand something, that not all, and let's move it into the New Testament,
not all Christians are created equal.
I hate to tell you, I know you live in a society that tells you no child left behind,
but, which really is no child left a dime, but anyway, that's a different story.
Not every Christian, just because you're a Christian does not make you a good Christian.
And some people are better at following God than others.
And what we see is that God highlights Caleb and says, here's a man that had another spirit.
Here's a man that was special. Here's a man that was different than everyone else.
And what is it that made Caleb different?
The first thing I'd like you to notice is there in verse number 7, the Bible says this,
And they, this of course is Caleb and Joshua, Caleb is the primary speaker,
and they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying,
this is after the children of Israel began to cry and weep and say,
murmur against Moses and murmur against Aaron and say, let us make a captain, let's go back to Egypt.
This is after all that stuff, the Bible says,
and spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying,
the land which we pass through to search it is an excellent, is an exceeding good land.
Verse 8, notice what they said, and I want you to notice verse number 8,
because there's a little statement here, I want you to see it.
Caleb says this, if, now that if is a big if.
If the Lord delight in us,
then he will bring us into this land and give it us a land which floweth with milk and honey.
I want you to notice that Caleb makes this statement, he says,
if, if, if the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land.
And here's the first point of the first statement if you're taking notes,
and it is this, that Caleb understood something the others did not understand.
Caleb understood something that the other people, the other spies, the rest of the congregation,
he understood something that the other people did not understand.
You say, what is it?
Caleb understood to take into consideration what I like to call the God factor.
Because I want you to notice what he says, the spies come out and they say,
the land is great, it floweth with milk and honey, but there's a problem.
The problem is that there's walled cities and there's giants and there's this and there's that.
And Caleb's response to that is this, if the Lord delight in us,
if the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land.
See, Caleb understood and Caleb took into consideration the God factor.
You say, what is the God factor?
The God factor is this, that the Lord, if he delights in us, can bless us and help us
and make us succeed even when everything says that we should fail.
The God factor is this, that you should factor in God.
You should factor in God into your life.
You should factor in God into the equation.
You should factor in God into the situation.
Because these people were looking at the situation, they're saying,
well, let's look at ourselves and let's look at them.
Let's look at how many warriors we have.
We don't have a lot of warriors.
In fact, we've been slaves for the last 400 and some odd years
and we just came out of slavery and we don't have a lot going on for us
and they saw themselves as grasshoppers in their oversight
and they said those people have walled cities and they have militaries
and they have everything going for them.
And when you look at it that way, it would make sense that you would say,
let's not do it, we can't do it, it can't be done.
But Caleb brought something into the equation.
He understood something that the others did not understand.
And what he brought into the equation was the God factor,
that if the Lord delight in us, then he, the Lord, will bring us into this land.
Caleb understood to take into consideration the God factor.
Go to the book of Haggai, if you would, Haggai chapter 1.
You probably don't know where the book of Haggai is.
You may not know where it is. That's okay.
If you go to the end of the Old Testament,
the very last book of the Old Testament is the book of Malachi
and right before the book of Malachi, you have the book of Zechariah
and then the book of Haggai.
Haggai chapter number 1.
And I'd like you to look at verse number 5.
Malachi, Zechariah, and then the book of Haggai, Haggai chapter number 1.
Here's what Caleb understood.
Caleb understood what could be done with God's favor.
Caleb understood what could be done with God's help.
Caleb understood to take into consideration the God factor
and Caleb understood what could be done with God's favor.
And there's something that I often teach our church family
and I don't know, I use this terminology
that makes any sense to you or that you understand it and I hope you do
and obviously I try to communicate things as well as I can
but the way I've communicated it to our church family over the years is this.
Is that when you got saved and you became a Christian,
you began to play the game of life
and I realize that there's a board game called life
but that's not what I'm talking about.
You began to play the actual game of life by different rules.
The world can play the game of life a certain way.
The world can lie and cheat and steal.
The world can be lazy.
The world can do this and do that and maybe still succeed and maybe not succeed
and maybe get caught and maybe not get caught
and maybe do this and maybe do that.
But you and I play the game of life by different rules
because when you and I got saved, we got a Heavenly Father
and you've got to factor in.
You have to have the God factor factored in to the equation
and Caleb understood this that what could be done,
could be done with God's favor.
Haggai 1 is actually a passage of scripture that shows you
what happens when you don't have God's favor.
Haggai chapter 1 verse 5.
Now therefore, thus saith the Lord of hosts,
Consider your ways. Consider your ways.
Ye have sown much and bring in little.
Look at what Haggai is telling these people.
He said, you've sown much.
You've invested a lot. You've worked a lot.
You've really done a lot of work in the area of sowing and reaping.
He said, you have sown much and, notice what he says, bring in little.
He said, how is it that you've sown so much and brought in so little
is what Haggai is telling the children of Israel in the book of Haggai.
He's telling them to consider your ways.
You've sown much and bring in little.
Ye eat, he says, ye eat, but ye have not enough.
He said, you eat but you're never full.
Ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink.
He said, you eat but you're never full.
He said, you drink but you're still thirsty.
He says, ye clothe you, but there is none warm.
And he that earneth wages, earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.
You earn money and then it seems like you put the money into a bag,
you put the money into a bank account,
you put the money into some sort of a storage location,
but it seems like it has holes because the money just disappears.
And what Haggai is telling them and what he's trying to express to the children of Israel
when he says, consider your ways, he said,
have you ever considered the fact that maybe the Lord is not for you?
Maybe the Lord is not delighting in you.
Maybe the Lord, and I like this passage because it has to do with money
and this is not only applied to money, but I think we can all understand money.
And he says, have you ever thought about the fact, Haggai says,
that you so much and then you bring in so little.
You eat and you have not enough.
You drink and are not filled.
You're clothed, but there is none warm.
You earn wages and put it into bags, but it seems like the bags have holes.
And here's what I would say to you.
You need to understand what can be done with God's favor
and you better understand what cannot be done without God's favor.
When Caleb said, if the Lord delight in us, that if was a big if.
If the Lord delight in us.
He says, you sow much and bring in little.
You have not enough.
You drink and you are not filled.
You're clothed and you are not warm.
You earn wages, you put it into bags with holes.
Go to Deuteronomy chapter 8 if you would.
If you're there, if you have your place in Numbers,
right after Numbers you have the book of Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy chapter 8.
My wife and I just went to Texas.
And God blessed steadfast. I like steadfast. I like Pastor Shelley.
But every time I go to Texas or any state like that, it's always the same thing.
People just come up to me. I think they're trying to encourage me.
I'm not really sure what they're trying to do.
I think they're trying to encourage me, but I don't really know.
But every time I travel anywhere, people always say the same thing to me.
I love Verity Baptist Church. I love your preaching.
I would move there if it wasn't in California.
And I think to myself, okay, well I'm not sure.
Was that supposed to encourage me? I'm not really sure what that was meant to do.
And people always say the same things.
You know, it's so expensive there and it's so liberal there and it's so this there
and it's so that there and it's so this, you know, whatever.
And I think to myself, you know, it's really interesting
because to me Verity Baptist Church is this Goshen in the state of California.
And I feel like this place, like it's a living miracle.
I'm talking about this church.
Because we live in this state that's so expensive.
And literally I talk to people outside of our church
and I mean you've got a guy who's working 40 hours a week,
sending his wife off to work.
She's working 40 hours a week.
They've got two incomes. They're barely making it.
They're struggling. I mean it's like they're clothed but they're still not warm.
They drink but they're still thirsty.
They've sold much but they bring in little.
And it's like you can't make it here.
But then I look at the congregation of Verity Baptist Church
and I can name for you, and I won't, but I can name for you family after family after family in this church.
I'm talking about men who go to work, refuse to send their wives to work,
they're living on one income and they're thriving.
I mean they're thriving in the state of California.
They're making more money than the average person makes in this state
while volunteering for church days, while going soul winning,
while being Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night.
And you ask yourself, how can that be?
And the answer is the God factor.
Because if the Lord delight in us, then he will bring it to pass.
If the Lord delights in you, then he will help you along the way.
If the Lord delights in you, then he will take care of your needs.
If the Lord, people say, how are you going to make it in Sacramento?
How are you going to make it in California?
You know, they talk about the buildings of this building.
You really think you can reach that many people?
Let me tell you something.
If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land.
And if the Lord doesn't delight in you, it doesn't matter where you are.
It doesn't matter where you live.
It doesn't matter who the president is.
It doesn't matter what wars are being waged.
It doesn't matter what the economy looks like.
Because if the Lord does not delight in you,
you ought to consider the fact that if you're sowing much and bringing little,
that you eat and you don't have enough,
you drink and you are not filled, you're clothed but you're still not warm,
you earn wages but it seems to go into a bag with holes.
Maybe you ought to consider the fact that the Lord is not delighting in you.
Because Caleb understood to take into consideration the God factor.
Caleb understood what could be done with God's favor.
And Caleb looked at the math and he said,
I understand that if I'm a man who doesn't send his wife to work,
we live on one income, we homeschool our children,
so we're paying for our children's education twice
because we're already paying for public school,
plus we're paying for their education through homeschooling them.
I'm not sending my wife to work and I'm supposed to give 10% of my income to God
and I give special offerings on top of that
and I'm supposed to not work on Saturdays because I'm so winning
and I want to spend time with my family
and Pastor Wilson wants us to come in on Thursday night and work.
How is all this going to work out?
And yet I watch people and they're thriving.
And the answer is this, if the Lord delighted us,
then he will bring us into this land.
I watch people and I think, so how can it be?
How can it be that working that job, doing that business,
you make as much money as you do?
And the answer is this, if the Lord delighted in us,
then he will bring us into this land.
But let that also be a warning to you.
Deuteronomy chapter 8, are you there? Look at verse 18.
Deuteronomy 8, 18, the Bible says,
But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God.
Don't forget God.
Because this is what often happens with Christians.
They show up to a church like this and their lives all messed up,
their marriage is falling apart, their children are rebellious,
they're not making very good money, they're not doing this, they're not doing that.
They get the preaching of the word of God.
Not only that, but they get around some guys that work hard and they're successful.
They get around some ladies that are hardworking moms and they're homeschooling
and they start fixing things in their lives
and they start getting their lives better.
They start getting their lives in order and their finances get better
and their marriage gets better and things get better.
And then they start getting lifted up and thinking,
I'm doing pretty good.
And they don't remember the fact that what you were doing was not very great.
It's the God factor.
It's God.
And what Deuteronomy 8, 18, what Moses is telling the children of Israel,
he says, But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God,
for it is he that giveth thee power to get well,
that he may establish this covenant which he sware unto thy fathers as it is this day.
So Caleb understood something that the others did not seem to understand.
It's this, the God factor.
And the God factor is this, that we can do what needs to be done with God's favor.
And if the Lord delighted us, then he will bring us into this land.
Go to Proverbs chapter 16.
If you open your Bible just right in the center, right after the book of Psalms,
you have the book of Proverbs, Proverbs 16.
Proverbs 16 and verse 7.
Notice the God factor, Proverbs 16 verse 7.
When a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.
See, the thing that you ought to factor into your life is this,
is my life pleasing the Lord?
And if I'm not succeeding, if I'm not getting better,
if things are not going well, if it seems like I'm putting money into a bag with holes,
then maybe you ought to consider, do my ways please the Lord?
Because God is no respecter of persons.
And all I'm telling you is this, if families can thrive at Verity Baptist Church,
if any family is thriving at Verity Baptist Church,
and I can give you a list and list and list of families that are thriving,
then you can thrive as well.
When a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.
Go to Psalm 147, go backwards to Psalm 147, look at verse 10.
See, here's what we factor in.
We factor in, we like the human factor.
The human factor is, well, what can we do?
What can I accomplish?
What can I get done?
What is the strength that I have?
What is the ability that I have?
And obviously, we should work hard and we should try to do our best.
But in Psalm 147 and verse 10, the Bible says this,
he, referring to God, he, notice it, delighteth not in the strength of the horse.
God is not impressed with your horse or your whatever it is you're trusting in.
He taken that pleasure in the legs of a man.
And you might think that's an odd verse, why would he say that?
But the reason he's saying that is he's comparing it to the strength of the horse
because the biggest muscles in your body are found in your legs.
Most of your strength as a human being is found in your legs.
And God is saying, not only am I not delighting in the strength of your horse,
I'm also not delighting in the strength of your legs.
Here's what he's saying, I don't care how strong you are.
I don't care how educated you are.
I don't care how smart you are.
Look, if God is not delighting in you, you're in for a world of hurt.
Look at verse 11.
The Lord taketh pleasure.
That's the same idea if the Lord delighted us.
The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him.
And those that hope in his mercy.
So I want you to notice that what gave Caleb a different spirit
was separated him from everyone else.
That God would say, my servant Caleb, he had another spirit, what was it?
The first thing was that Caleb understood something that the others did not understand.
Go back to Numbers chapter 14 if you would.
He understood something the others did not understand.
He understood that you must take into consideration the God factor.
He understood what could be done with God's favor.
He understood that if we're looking at ourselves and we're looking at the promised land
and we're looking at the enemies and all the cost and the expense and the work
that needs to be happening over there
and we're looking at ourselves and we think to ourselves, I don't think that we can do this.
And you're probably right. If you only factor in us, then we can't do it.
But when you factor in God,
if he delighted us, then he will bring us into this land.
So number one, Caleb understood something the others did not understand.
Number two, Caleb had a confidence in someone that the others did not have a confidence in.
Let me say this. Because of the something that Caleb understood,
it gave him a confidence in someone that the others did not have confidence in.
Now in verse 9 and in verse 10 of Numbers chapter 14,
we see both an application and an illustration of Caleb's confidence.
Notice verse 9. The first part of verse 9 gives us the application.
Because Caleb had a confidence in someone that others did not have a confidence in.
Here's the application. Here's what Caleb says.
Only rebel not ye against the Lord. I like that.
I mean, he says, look, if you're going to do anything, maybe you lack faith,
maybe you're afraid, maybe you're scared, maybe you don't see how it can happen,
you don't have the faith. Okay. But he says if you do anything, just do this.
And what he's saying is don't do this. Only rebel not ye against the Lord.
He said just don't rebel against the Lord. Just don't do that.
And that's what I would say to church members that are on the fence.
Hey, only rebel not ye against the Lord. Neither fear ye the people of the land.
See, the application for Caleb's confidence is this.
Because the confidence he had in the someone, which obviously is God,
came from the understanding he had in something.
The understanding he had was that if God delights in us, then he will give us the land,
he will give us the victory, he will give us the success.
And because Caleb understood that, it gave him a confidence in someone.
Now he's talking to people that don't understand that and don't have that confidence.
And he says, let me give you the application. The application is this.
Only rebel not ye against the Lord. Neither fear ye the people of the land.
He says don't go against God.
Because here's what's interesting to me about the children of Israel in the wilderness
and the children of Israel by the methadone clinic.
That God is the factor that can factor into our success.
And then God is the one we rebel against.
When people want success, you want success.
You want more money. You want a better job. So you stop coming to church?
Now that makes sense if you're an atheist, but it shouldn't make sense if you believe that there's a God in heaven that giveth you wealth.
Oh, Pastor, you know, I got to work on my marriage, so we're going to stop going to church on Sunday nights because we need family time.
Stop going to church is the worst thing you can do for your family.
I'm going to have to stop soul winning because, you know, I just need to work more hours.
I'm not saying you have to go soul winning at any given time, but quit soul winning is the worst thing you can do for your finances.
And Caleb is saying, look, whatever you do, don't rebel against God because God is the factor.
God is the favor that we need to succeed.
The application is this, only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land.
Then he gives an illustration. It's there in verse nine as well. Notice what he says.
Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land. That's the application.
Here's the illustration. He says, for they are bread for us.
I love that little phrase. First of all, I love it because I personally love bread.
Bread is my favorite food. I've often said, sometimes I go to restaurants and I'd rather have the dinner rolls than the dinner.
I just love bread. My life verse is give us this day our daily bread. I don't understand why these people were complaining about manna in the wilderness.
I mean bread. And so Caleb says, for they are bread for us. And what he's saying is this, we can eat them for lunch.
I love the confidence. He says we can have them for lunch. He says we can eat giants for lunch. They are bread for us.
And the idea is this. And again, maybe I'm kind of reading into this because I have a love for bread.
But the idea is this. When you get a nice piece of warm, freshly, my wife makes these amazing warm, fresh out of the oven breads and you slice it open with a butter knife and it's just easy.
And he says, look, if God's for us, they're like buttered bread. They are bread for us.
Now here's what's interesting about the illustration. I think Caleb is using a play on words here and he's kind of jabbing at them a little bit.
Because sometimes we've got to jab at people a little bit to wake them up. He says for they are bread for us.
Now I want you to contrast that to what they said. Go to Numbers 13. Look at verse 32. Caleb says we will eat them for lunch for they are bread for us. Numbers 14 verse 9.
Compare and contrast that to what they said in Numbers 13, 32.
And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel saying the land through which we have gone to search it is.
Here's a phrase. Look at it. Here's what they said. A land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof.
They said the land eateth up the inhabitants thereof. They said they will eat us for lunch because it is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof.
Caleb says, no, we will eat them for lunch. They are bread for us.
And the illustration highlights the application that when you have your confidence in God, when you have your faith in God, when your confidence is not in the strength of your horse or in the strength of your legs but your confidence is in the Lord and you know that you are right with God and you know that the Lord is pleased with you, then you can have the confidence to say we will eat them for lunch.
Not because you are strong but because God is strong.
Go to Romans chapter 8 if you would. In the New Testament you have Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans. Romans chapter 8.
Romans chapter 8. Do me a favor when you get to Romans. Put a ribbon or a bookmark or something there because we are going to leave it and we are going to come back to it and I would like you to be able to get to it quickly.
Romans 8.31. See here is what Caleb understood. He understood something that the others did not understand. He had a confidence in someone that the others did not have a confidence in.
And I think even though Romans 8.31 is obviously in the New Testament, I think Caleb had a good understanding of the concept found in this verse. Romans 8.31.
What shall we then say to these things? Now I am not going to take the time to read the context. We will read a little bit more from Romans 8 later on here in a minute.
But the idea is that there are all these things that are facing us and scary and we are not sure what to do. And Caleb could have said this to the children of Israel.
When they talked about the giants and the walled cities and the big land and it is scary over there and they are going to eat us for lunch, he could have said this.
What shall we then say to these things? And then here is the application. If God be for us, who can be against us?
Caleb had a confidence in someone that others did not have a confidence in. The question I have to ask you is who do you have your confidence in?
Well pastor, you do not understand. We would homeschool our children but...
But what?
Well, you do not understand. We would do marriage the way the Bible says but...
But what? If the Lord delighted us.
You do not understand. We would do tithe but...
The truth is this. That some people have a spirit that says I am looking at myself and what I can accomplish.
Other people like Caleb have another spirit that says I am looking at God and seeing what God can accomplish.
And if God be for us, if God be for us, who can be against us?
Keep your place there in Romans 8. Go back to Numbers 14. Let me give you the third statement.
We say that Caleb understood something that the others did not understand. We say that Caleb had a confidence in someone the others did not have a confidence in.
And I would like you to notice thirdly this morning that Caleb had a discernment in the situation that the others did not sense.
And again, remember, the confidence in the understanding of something led to the confidence in someone and the confidence in someone leads to the discernment in a situation.
And I want you to notice something here in Numbers 14 and verse 9 that Caleb had some insight. Look at it.
Only rebel not ye against the Lord. Neither fear you the people of the land for they are bread for us. I love that.
And then Caleb says this. Here's the insight. He says their defense is departed from them.
Now I don't know why Caleb said that. It might just be a statement in faith in God.
But I don't think it is and here's why. Caleb's already made statements of his faith in God.
He said if the Lord delight in us, he said God can bring this to pass. He says they are bread for us.
He's already made statements about his confidence in his faith in God. His view is on God, not the problem.
But when he does make a comment of the problem, he makes a very interesting comment because he says their defense is departed from them.
And again we don't understand why Caleb said this. Maybe one day when I get to heaven if I think about it I'll ask him or maybe he'll say hey let me explain to you why I said that.
But here's what I think though. I think that Caleb saw something. Remember he spent 40 days in the wilderness.
He spent 40 days watching these people, spying on these people, looking at their resources and making maps and looking at the whole situation.
It was a reconnaissance mission and something happened. These people said something, did something.
There was something about the way they moved, the way they were acting that caused Caleb to have this insight where he's telling the people hey their defense is departed from them.
Here's what he's saying. They've already lost in their hearts. They don't think they can win. Not only is our God great but they are already defeated.
He had this insight that said their defense is departed from them. Why did he have that? I don't know.
What did he see that the others did not see? What did he perceive that the others did not perceive?
What happened that he made him think their defense is departed. These people are already defeated. These people are not ready to go to battle.
We don't know what it is but here's what we know. He had an insight because he clearly states in Numbers 14, 9 their defense is departed from them.
Now you may think well that's not that interesting. Go to Joshua chapter 2. Numbers, Deuteronomy and then the book of Joshua. Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua.
Here's what makes it really interesting. And I love this. I love when God does this.
Because Caleb had this insight. Their defense is departed from them.
And I want you to notice something. Not only did Caleb have an insight but Caleb was right.
Years and years and years later God revealed that 40 years earlier Caleb was right.
In ministry I found that God often does this and I love it though it doesn't really bring any sort of joy or closure.
But often times I'll sit in an office and I'll say to somebody if you do that you're going to regret it. Don't do that.
That's not what God wants. Often times I'll tell somebody don't and it may be weeks later, it may be months later, sometimes it's years later.
But sometimes God always finds a way to reveal oh he was right.
And that's what God does for Caleb. He had this insight that their defense is departed from them.
And then years later we find out that he was right. Because in Joshua chapter 2 and verse 9 we are fast forwarding in the story.
Numbers 14 and verse 9 the children of Israel are on the brink of going into the promised land.
Caleb says their defense is departed from them. He says their defense is departed from them. We can go in and overtake it.
God is good. God is great. And they're not even ready to fight. Their defense is departed. He had this insight.
Now you know the story. The children of Israel did not listen to him and as a result they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years.
In Joshua chapter 2 we fast forward 40 years later. The children of Israel and that generation that took the evil report and that rebelled against the Lord has died.
They died in the wilderness. Now a new generation has risen up with Joshua as its leader.
And Joshua has crossed the Jordan River and he's entered into the promised land.
And Joshua now does what Moses did 40 some odd years earlier. He does it a little different though.
He sends spies out to do reconnaissance again. But this time instead of sending 12 spies and having 10 be bad and 2 be good, he just sends 2 spies.
He just finds the 2 good guys and says I'm going to send you. I don't care what the other 10 say.
And I'm sure he had to talk with them and said let's not repeat what happened 40 years ago.
But he sends these 2 spies into the land. The 2 spies find a woman, you probably know her if you're familiar with the Bible, by the name of Rahab the harlot.
Rahab the harlot is a prostitute that lived in the city of Jericho. She helps these spies and helps them to not get caught.
And I want you to notice what Rahab the harlot says 40 years after Caleb said their defenses departed from them.
Caleb was talking about the city of Jericho and the Canaanites that live on the other side of Jordan.
He said their defenses departed from them and here's what Rahab the harlot said 40 years later. Joshua chapter 2 verse 9.
And she, Rahab the harlot, said unto them, the 2 spies sent in 40 years later by Joshua, I know that the Lord hath given you the land.
She says I know that the Lord has given you the land and that your terror is fallen upon us.
She said your terror is fallen upon us. You know what that sounds like? It sounds like this, their defenses departed from them.
She says we are as afraid of you as you were afraid of us.
She says I know that the Lord hath given you the land and that your terror has fallen upon us.
And all the inhabitants of the land, don't miss it, look at it, faint because of you.
You know what that sounds like? It sounds like their defenses departed from them.
She said, she said your terror has fallen upon us. She said the land is faint because of you.
Now the question is when did this happen? When did their terror fall upon them? When did they become faint?
When was their defense departed from them?
Well she tells us, look at verse 10. She says for we have heard.
She said let me tell you why your terror has fallen upon us. Let me tell you why the land is faint because of you.
Here's why, for we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Jordan River. Is that what she said?
Now that's the river they just crossed, but that's not what she said.
She said let me tell you why your terror has fallen upon us and let me tell you why the land is faint because of you.
For we have heard how the Lord dried up the waters of the Red Sea for you.
Now you might think well what's the big deal? Here's the big deal.
When did the Lord dry up the river of the Red Sea for the children of Israel? 40 years earlier.
Caleb and Moses had crossed the Red Sea. Caleb goes into the Promised Land and he says I can't tell you. I can't explain it.
I just have this insight. I have this perception that their defense has fallen. It's departed from them.
And then 40 years later Rahab says our defense departed when you guys crossed the Red Sea.
40 years later she said your terror has fallen upon us and we became faint when we heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea.
You know what Rahab is confirming? Rahab is confirming that all these years Caleb was right if they would have just crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land.
They would have conquered the land because their defense truly was departed from them.
Caleb had a discernment in the situation that the others did not sense.
And here's what I'm saying to you. Maybe you're not that type of person that has that kind of discernment.
Maybe you don't walk with the Lord like Caleb does and you don't have the discernment to say no I think we can take this.
But if you're not that person then maybe just keep your mouth shut.
If you're the type of person that wants to monger fear and tell people it can't be done, it can't be done, we can't do it, it cannot be done.
Hey why don't you keep your mouth shut and let those of us that actually have the Holy Spirit of God and actually trust in God and are actually putting our faith in God
and have actually seen God do some great things in our lives, why don't you let those of us that have some discernment to say,
Hey God is good and their defense is departed. Let us talk.
Instead of going around telling everybody how it can't be done and we can't accomplish it, it's so hard.
It's hard for you because you're not right with God.
But if the Lord delighted us, if God before us, who can be against us?
Caleb had a discernment in the situation that others did not sense and he doesn't really, he just says it.
He can't explain it. He doesn't give an explanation. He just says, I know this. Their defense is departed from them.
They are weak. They are faint. They are scared. We can take them now.
And 40 years later Rahab said, yeah 40 years ago our terror, your terror was falling upon us.
40 years ago the land became faint because we've just been waiting for you guys to show up. We don't know what took 40 years, what took so long.
But when we heard how the Lord dried up the waters of the Red Sea for you, our defense was departed.
And it's interesting to me that Caleb had a discernment in the situation that the others did not sense.
He had an insight and he was right.
And look, isn't it true that oftentimes the things that we fear and obsess over never even come to fruition?
It's always interesting to me, people want to, you know, just focus and obsess and be all upset about all these, all these terrible things and they never even happen.
They never even happen. Please let me explain something to you.
See, the children of Israel are throwing a fit in the wilderness. They're weeping. They're scared.
They're talking about stoning Moses. Here in a minute we're going to see. They're going to talk about stoning Caleb.
They're talking about making a captain to go back into the land. They're talking about how the land was so great and Egypt was so great.
They're throwing a fit and let me remind you something, nothing has even happened yet.
No battles have been fought. They haven't crossed the river. The people on the other side haven't even noticed them.
And the ones that have are scared of them.
But so often we want to make this big boogeyman of these situations.
And it's always the worst case scenario.
But isn't it true that oftentimes the things we fear the most never even happen, never even come to fruition?
Caleb had this attitude that said, I think we can do this.
Our God is great and their defense is departed.
Caleb's talking to me like the kind of guy who would say, hey, I've read the end of the book. We win.
It's all right. I think Caleb, if he would have lived today, he'd sing this song.
Well, I'm on the winning side. Yes, I'm on the winning side.
I think he'd like that song. I think he'd like that song and I think he'd like this song.
I want that mountain. It belongs to me.
I think he'd like those two songs.
Because Caleb had the spirit that was different than other men.
Caleb had the spirit that God said was another spirit. What? What did he have?
He understood something the others did not understand.
That God is the factor and if the Lord delighted us, then he will give us the land.
He had confidence in someone that the others did not have a confidence in.
He said, they are bread for us. They're not going to eat us for lunch. We're going to eat them for lunch. Why?
Because of God before us. Who can be against us?
And Caleb had a discernment in the situation that the others did not sense.
He said, I can't tell you how I know, but I just know their defense has departed from them.
And 40 years later Rahab the harlot confirmed it and said, yeah, your terror was falling upon us
and the land became faint because of you when you crossed the Red Sea.
Caleb was a different type of guy.
Go back to Romans if you would. Romans chapter 8.
Here's the situation.
He discerned something.
The others did not sense, but you and I can discern it too.
Romans 8.35 says this, who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword?
As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Verse 37, nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
You know what I can tell you? I can tell you this.
It doesn't matter how bad the economy gets.
It doesn't matter who gets elected for president.
It doesn't matter what wars get won or not won or whatever.
None of that matters because at the end of the day, I read the end of the book, we win.
At the end of the day, we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
And you and I can have the same discernment and confidence that Caleb had and look at those giants and say,
Whatever. I don't care. You just wait till Jesus shows up.
Because we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Go back to Numbers 14. We've got to finish this thing up.
I want you to notice how it all ends.
In verse 10, we see what happens to the children of Israel. Of course, they did not listen.
Notice what they said, but all the congregation bade stone and with stones.
They're threatening to kill, to stone Caleb because Caleb said, Hey, God can do this.
And their defense is departed.
But all the congregation bade stone and with stones.
Look at verse 23.
They did not enter the promised land. The children of Israel did not enter the promised land.
Verse 23, Numbers 14 and 23, Surely they, this is God speaking, shall not see the land which I swear unto their fathers.
Neither shall any of them that provoke me see it.
But Caleb does enter the land. Verse 24, But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him,
and followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereunto he went, and his seed shall possess it.
Look at verse 30, Doubtless ye shall not come into the land concerning which I swear unto you to dwell therein.
To dwell therein save, the word save there means except Caleb the son of Jeffuneth and Joshua the son of Nun.
The children of Israel did not listen to Caleb and therefore the children of Israel did not enter the promised land.
You know who did enter the promised land? Caleb did.
Everyone that was his age in those 40 years died in the wilderness.
Deaths every day, God killing off that generation.
But you know who didn't die? Caleb.
Caleb enters the promised land. He's 40 years old at this point, 40 years later he's 80 years old,
and he enters the promised land and just an old guy fighting battles with the young bucks.
Because he had another spirit.
He enters the promised land and he says, Hey, I remember that mountain.
Joshua, let me take that mountain. I want that mountain. It belongs to me.
That's the kind of spirit I want.
Not some defeated spirit that says, Oh, we can't do it unless we elect Trump and we can't do it.
Your confidence is in the wrong strength, my friend.
Put your confidence in God.
You know what's good about God? He's always elected.
He never loses in an election.
He never gets voted out.
He's always on the throne.
Your confidence is out to be in God.
Look at Numbers 14, 9 and 24 and we'll be done.
What made Caleb different?
Look at verse 9 and verse 24. I just want to highlight this and we'll finish up.
In verse 9, Caleb is speaking. He says, Only rebel not ye against the Lord.
Neither fear ye the people of the land, for they are bred for us. Their defense is departed from them.
Then he says this, And the Lord is with us. I love that.
You know, the attitude that you and I should have and what Caleb believed was this, that God was with him.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me.
He said, The Lord is with me. The Lord is with us.
He said, We can do this because the Lord is with us.
I want you to notice that Caleb believed that God was with him and I want you to notice verse 24 and we'll look at this phrase and be done.
But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, notice what he says. Notice what God says about Caleb.
This is an amazing statement. God says this about Caleb and hath followed me fully.
Can God say that about you and me?
What area in your life are you disobeying God?
Because you fear man. Because you're afraid of the consequences.
Because you're lacking faith in God. Because God looked down at Caleb and said, This guy has followed me fully.
He's not holding back. There's nothing he's keeping. There's nothing he's afraid.
His confidence is with God. The Lord is with us and he has followed me fully.
You know what we need today? You know what Verity Baptist Church needs as we enter into that promised land?
We need some Calybs who will follow God fully, who will say, Forget the consequences. I don't care about the consequences.
I'm going to do what God says to do because God is with us.
But that is a spirit of another man, a unique man, a man like Caleb.
The question I have for you is this. What spirit do you have?
The spirit of Caleb or the ten spies? The spirit of faith or the spirit of fear?
Because one dies in the wilderness, the other makes it into the promised land.
I hope you get the spirit of Caleb. Spire heads in our world of prayer. Heavenly Father.
Lord, we love you. We thank you for these stories, the applications.
Lord, I pray you'd help us to be people like Caleb. I know it's hard to step out by faith.
I know it's hard to give ourselves fully to the Lord. We want to hold back. We want to try to maneuver things.
We need to just put our faith in God. Lord, I pray you'd help us. I pray you'd help us to be like Caleb.
Help us to understand things that others don't understand. To have confidence in someone that others don't have.
To see discernment and perceived situations like others do not.
And help us to give ourselves fully to you. We love you. In the matchless name of Christ, we pray. Amen.
We're going to have Brother Matt come up and lead us in a final song. Just want to give you a couple of reminders.
First of all, we want to encourage you to be back tonight at 6 p.m. for the Sunday night service.
We want to make Sunday night service great again. It's the most exciting service of the week.
So we'd love for you to join us for the Sunday evening service.
And then of course, we want to encourage you to be back next week. Bring someone with you. Invite a friend.
Next week we're going to finish up Numbers, chapter 14. We're going to look at the last 15 verses of the chapter, which we've not dealt yet with.
Dealt with yet. And we are going to learn about what happens when you refuse to let God use you.
What happens when we do not make ourselves available for God. And we will look at that next week.
And I encourage you to be here for that as we continue our study in the book of Numbers.
And then of course, we've got some sign-up sheets in the back. And if you would not mind going back there,
we've got two sign-up sheets for the harvest party. If you'd like to volunteer to bring some cornbread for the chili or a dessert for that evening, we would appreciate your help with that.
And then of course, we have the workdays. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. And we could really use your help.
I know you guys had a big weekend. You put in a lot of work. But we could continue to use your help with those workdays.
So please go by there and pick a shift or two or whatever and sign up. We would appreciate your help with that.
If there's anything we can do for you, please let us know. We'll have Brother Matt come up and lead us in a final song.
Turn to song 325.
Three, two, five.
325 on the first.
When we walk with the Lord
In the light of His word
What a glory He sheds on our way
While we do His good will
He abides with all still
And with all who will trust and obey
Trust and obey
For there's no other way
To be happy than Jesus
Not to trust and obey
Not a shadow can rise
Not a cloud in the skies
Quickly drives it away
Not a doubt or a fear
Not a sigh nor a tear
Can abide when we trust and obey
Trust and obey
For there's no other way
To be happy than Jesus
Not to trust and obey
Not a burden we bear
Not a sorrow we share
Not a twirly breath we sleep we bathe
Not a grief nor a mess
Not a candle across
Not as fast and free
Trust and obey
For there's no other way
To be happy than Jesus
Not to trust and obey
But we never can do
The delights of His love
Not as fast and free
Trust and obey
Not as fast and free
Trust and obey
Not as fast and free
Amen. Good singing. Before we leave, if anybody has questions about salvation, church membership, or baptism, a pastor will be at the door.
I'd like to direct you to someone who's trained to talk about that.
Brother Graham, would you close your prayer for us?
Father God, thank you for the pastor. Thank you for the security.
Please help us to trust and obey you for all the issues that come up.
Bless the rest of the afternoon and bring us back safely.
In the name of Jesus Christ, everybody. Amen.
Thank you.